


Sycamore Academy

by GamerAJ1025



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: College, Drama, Many Trainer OCs, Self-Centered Actions, at least someone is trying to be a good person, but almost everyone has an agenda, elitism, one problem: I haven't figured out what actually happens next..., well actually a few of them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29319729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamerAJ1025/pseuds/GamerAJ1025
Summary: Sycamore Academy, the most elite college in Kalos. It’s state of the art facilities and unique opportunities draw in aspiring young people. Only the richest, most famous, influential people get places. Exceptional trainers and promising students are welcome too.But, of course, it seems like people will do whatever they can to get ahead.And it’s near-impossibly hard to survive in this drama-filled, privileged academy. What could go wrong?





	Sycamore Academy

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh, a Pokémon Trainer College AU kinda just happened in my mind? It started off as a fun brainstorm project that I and two other people just kinda threw together. They created Rose and Andrew. We didn't really do anything with it after that; I wanted to write it but it was just a WIP for literal months. Eventually, I actually got started and began to write this but it still took me a month to write and publish a single chapter. Hmm, I guess I just managed to catch the train leaving procrastination station. 
> 
> Enough from me, though. I hope you enjoy!  
> \- AJ

~-----~-----~-----~-----~

Sycamore Academy was undoubtedly the best school in the Kalos region. Whilst it had competition from prestigious universities in Galar and a couple of the colleges in Unova, the Academy was the best of the best. 

The best young trainers from every region would enrol. The college was elite: with so much competition, the way in was usually fame, power or wealth. Exceptional trainers were often offered places, too. 

So as he entered the building, Ryan could feel the atmosphere of privilege. Yet, ulike some of its kin, the Academy wasn’t obsessed with grand but old halls. The whole campus was sleek, clean-cut and state of the art. 

Ryan had pale skin and medium-length gingery-brown hair. It sat in messy, loose curls on his head. His green eyes darted around - he had an appreciation for aesthetic beauty and this building was pretty cool. He was on the slimmer side, and his face was peppered with freckles. 

He was accompanied by Jay, his childhood friend. Jay’s intense brown eyes gave him a fiery look. Swept into a quiff, his black hair helped reveal his Alolan heritage, along with his caramel brown skin. Jay had a lithe build, and was the same height as Ryan, if not an inch taller. 

“Let’s get settled in,” Jay said, gesturing for Ryan to follow. They were in the lobby, which had screens integrated into the walls of the seating area. Jay had quickly found their room allocation and began to lead the way.

“Please don’t lead us the wrong way,” smirked Ryan.

Jay grinned and shook his head. “It was one time.”

“It was also for two hours. You wouldn’t just look at the map, would you?”

“You’ll never learn your way around if you use a map all the time,” Jay countered. Sighing, Ryan rolled his eyes. Jay pointed to a building across from them, with a vast lawn between them. “We’re in room A-12”

Eager to get out on campus, the pair casually entered their room and made themselves comfortable. The rooms were just as state of the art as the rest of the complex, which Jay could only assume was thanks to the sponsorship of the super-rich. Although roommates, they each had separate rooms which branched off of a communal living space. 

“Huh. Better get used to the elite life, I guess,” said Ryan. The teen was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. His trainer’s belt was covered by a grey-blue hoodie, zipped up most of the way.

“I guess so. I have a feeling a lot of the other students won’t have to adapt all too much. I’ve seen some famous faces already,” Jay replied. He wore a pair of jeans, with a dark red polo-shirt and a pair of running shoes. 

The two boys headed out to explore. The school boasted a fully decked out sports centre, with a huge pool and athletics grounds. A ground-breaking research lab sat on the other side of the campus, with the cutting edge technology needed for students to conduct experiments. Near it was a block of specialised classrooms for many subjects and a set of lecturing theatres, but none of it compared to the main feature. 

The college sported some of the best battlefields in the region, if not the world. Battlefield One was inside a dome, with the means of generating terrain of every kind, from flat fields to aquatic battle scenes. There were many more facilities, with almost every type of battle arena a trainer could dream of. 

“This place is very, very privileged,” decided Ryan, slightly uncomfortable. He’d never quite fit in with the hyper rich and famous.

“What did you expect?” Jay asked. 

“I knew it was elite...but I think this is a tier above that.”

Jay grinned. “If this is posher than you think, wait till you talk to the other students.”

~-----~-----~-----~-----~

“Welcome to Sycamore Academy. As you know, there will be no lessons this week. Get to know the campus and each other. You should have received an email with your personal login information so you can access the state of the art systems we have installed throughout the school.”

The Principle was a fairly young man, in his late 30s, with unruly black hair and a blue shirt. He certainly resembled his cousin, Professor Sycamore, in temperament as well as appearance. 

Most of the students were zoning out, desperate to get more of a taste of college life. They had been given a small box each when they had come in, containing a minimalist headset with matching receivers for their Pokémon. The headsets allowed for telepathy; the school had been proud about their contribution to the research.

“We have a few rules here. Firstly, no Pokémon are allowed outside of their Pokéballs when in the corridors or classrooms, unless permitted by staff. They are free to be released anywhere outside, in the café, in your rooms and of course in labs or arenas.”

“Two, we expect you to conduct all free battles on one of the battlefields. The first ten are usually in use for classes or tournaments so I recommend using the ones outside the café or by your dorm block. You can take your Pokémon to be healed at any time to the Pokémon Centres. We have four of them around campus so it should be easy to heal them back to fighting shape, wherever you are.”

“Thirdly, most official battles, such as those in class, will be conducted using two, three or four Pokémon. One on ones and full team battles are usually reserved for tournaments, since they are either too short or too long for proper lessons. You will be expected to bring the correct Pokémon to classv. With the recent breakthrough of telepathy technology, your Headsets will revolutionise the format. Finally, try not to do anything illegal in your first week here.”

~-----~-----~-----~-----~

Andrew was restless at the very least. He’d gotten a good look at the other students at the meeting an hour ago and he wasn’t surprised. If there was one thing he hated, it was the snobby kids. But he kept up his smile, a facade, because nobody ever suspected the jokester. He was approachable enough on the outside but ruthless if needed. 

He wore a pair of grey slacks, a white shirt and a v-neck jumper. On top of his messy, short brown hair sat a fedora, and he wore a pair of semi-expensive sunglasses. Although he didn’t approve of spoiled kids, he had a good impression to make. 

It was lunch-time now, so Andrew was walking to the café, his Gengar shadowing him. As he glanced around, a girl, sitting on a bench, caught his eye. She was wearing clothes that looked like they were worth more than herself and she was armed with a cold glare. 

“Don’t look at me like that, Gengar.”

_“Are you sure she’s worth talking to? I thought we agreed that these snobs aren’t worth our time.”_

“I know. But something about her is interesting. Don’t worry, I’ll try to stay smiley.”

He approached the woman. Her eyes blue against her pale skin like porcelain, she brushed her perfectly straight blonde hair behind her ear. She blinked at him, dismissively, before opening her mouth to speak.

“Nice to meet you.” There was a not-so-subtle dissonance between her words and her tone. 

Andrew grinned. “Nice to meet you, too. What’s your name?”

The question caused her to raise an eyebrow. “So you don’t already know? My name is Rose. Rose Lovett.”

The Lovetts were a household name; Rose’s father was the owner of a massive Pokémon pharmaceuticals company, her mother a Unovan film star. Rose was just waiting for her turn to shine. 

She smiled coolly. “So? Who are you?”

“My name is Andrew Greystoke. You won’t have heard of me.”

“What’s your deal?” she asked, slightly amused. _He doesn’t seem too threatening._ Rose had arrived with the expectation that she’d have competition to crush, but from what she’d seen, there wasn’t much. 

“Don’t underestimate me,” he grinned. “I’ve been around the world and trained under gym leaders, ace trainers and even elite four members.”

 _Maybe I do have some competition…_

Rose smiled with thin lips, turning her attention to Gengar. “Tell me about your team.”

“Tell me about yours, first,” he countered with a smug face, as usual. _She’s playing me, trying to get me to give away my tactics to get an advantage._ “I didn’t come here to talk about myself all day long.”

“Fine. Just so you know, I’ll do anything it takes to get to the top.”

“So will I,” Andrew replied, his expression turning dark for a moment. _I should watch out for her, she seems ruthless._

“Serperior was my starter, my mother gave it to me when she visited from Unova. My team is both beautiful and deadly. Many of them are rare, exotic, but of course that’s not impressive to me. I usually get what I want,” she said. _Only the best will do for me._ “The rest of my team is Lopunny, Gardevoir, Altaria, Alolan Ninetales and Tsareena. If you want to know more, I guess you’ll have to battle me.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Rose smirked. “Maybe. Anyway, it’s your turn.”

“You’ve met Gengar here. My starter was Sceptile, but I have a Metagross, Absol, Cloyster and Flareon. I met many of them on my travels. I’ll warn you again. Don’t miscalculate how dangerous my team can be in battle. I trained with the best.”

“Dangerous. I look forward to it,” she smirked, turning to leave. She walked away, trying to hide the smile that Andrew had somehow put on her face. 

He decided that he’d made the impression that he’d wanted to. “So do I. Don’t go easy on me.”

~-----~-----~-----~-----~

Lucy bit her lip as she looked around the café. The energy was almost contagious and she was feeling optimistic about the year ahead. She was wearing a pastel orange t-shirt with a light blue shirt over the top, with a pair of jeans. Lucy had dark blonde hair and hazel eyes, with a soft face. Her thoughts turned to the pair that had just entered the building.

Jay and Ryan were looking around the café, trying to decide who was worth talking to. Her eyes crossed with the ginger boy’s, and she offered her usual kind smile. 

“Would you both like to sit here?” she offered, before chuckling. “I’m taking up a four-person bench by myself right now.”

“Uh…sure, thanks. What’s your name?” Ryan replied as he and Jay took their seats. “I’m Ryan, he’s Jay.”

“Nice to meet you. My name’s Lucy.” 

“What do you think of campus so far?” Jay asked her. 

“I could honestly nerd-out all day about how good the labs are. I mean…wow, it’s a hive of knowledge. I’m studying Pokétology.”

“Cool. There’s something about Pokémon that’s mysterious and I find it very interesting. I personally love the architecture,” Ryan said with a smile. “I could nerd-out all day about that just as easily.”

“What are your thoughts on artificial telepathy?” Jay asked. “The school claims they provided much of the research that made it possible.” 

Lucy giggled. “I know, right? It’s a huge achievement and I’m pretty happy that we’re the first cohort to try these. It’s proof that Pokémon have innate communication abilities that wasn’t fully proven before.”

“It’s also interesting to consider how well we can understand and cooperate with our Pokémon now. There is very little in the way of limitations, so I believe the emotional connection between trainer and Pokémon might become so much better,” Ryan added. 

Jay grinned. “I’m pretty stoked about the effects it could have on battling. As the principle said, it’s a revolutionary concept and would change so much. It’s practically a new battle phenomenon like Mega Evolution.”

“I agree, it’s very exciting. Anyway, which dorm are you staying in?” Lucy asked

“Our room is A-12, what about you?” Ryan replied. 

“I’m in A-33, a few floors above you guys. I’m sharing a room with Rose Lovett. She’s a strong trainer, from what I know. Though she seems ruthless in getting what she wants.”

Ryan bit his upper lip. “Might have to watch out, huh?”

“Yeah. I need to get some training in…just in case. I know my team isn’t as strong as it could be. I never found much time to train my Pokémon, I was too busy doing experiments. So I figure it couldn’t hurt to train.”

“We could do with more practice, to be honest, since none of us are anywhere near battle perfection. The three of us could train together if you want to join us. Besides, we should hang out sometime, right?” Jay offered, sitting back on his seat. 

Lucy brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling warmly. “Yeah, sure! We could go right after, if you want.” 

~-----~-----~-----~-----~

After the three of them had finished eating, they headed toward the A-Block battlefields. 

“Where do we start?” asked Jay, selecting a Pokéball from his belt.

“I’d like to watch the two of you battle first. I want to see how good you are.”

Ryan grinned. “Alright, we’ll do a one on one. Go, Hakamo-o!”

“Lucario, let’s beat them,” responded Jay, focussed. It’d been a month or so since he’d last fought Ryan, too long in his opinion.

 _“Careful, Jay. We don’t have any type advantages, but he does,”_ warned Lucario, taking his position on the field. 

“Right. Lucario, use Aura Sphere.” 

He charged a blue orb in front of him, crackles of sparks surrounding his paws. He punched, flinging the energy ball at his enemy. 

“Hakamo-o, Bulk Up!”

The Dragon-type blocked the attack with his arms, taking minimal damage. He was already a defensive Pokémon, so it was easy to shrug off the hit. 

_“Ryan, he is weak to Fighting. But they will not let me get close easily.”_

“Okay. Hakamo-o, time for Drain Punch.” 

Jay quickly responded, “Lucario, dodge with Extreme Speed.”

Hurtling at the foe, Hakamo-o’s fist charged lime green as he punched. Lucario stood calmly in the line of fire, until the last minute. In a split second, he flashed away. He reappeared behind the dragon, kicking him. 

“Lucario, attack with Meteor Mash!”

A plan formed in Ryan’s mind. Risky but rewarding.

“Use Drain Punch again! This time, take his attack then retaliate.”

The jackal was surrounded by a cerulean glow as he charged, striking once with each fist. Hakamo-o took both hits, weakening, but retaliated hard with a punch. Hakamo-o’s attack was super-effective on Lucario, plus it healed him, so he was at an advantage. Bulk Up had also boosted the attack, leaving Lucario damaged severely. 

_“I cannot take another hit like that from Hakamo-o,”_ he informed Jay. 

Jay nodded. “Don’t worry, they won’t win. Lucario, use Extreme Speed to get close, attack and then back away.”

“Get ready with Iron Head, Hakamo-o! Wait for it...”

Lucario dashed in with a flash, kicked Hakamo-o twice in a spinning motion and sped away, leaving Hakamo-o to headbutt the air. 

“Now, Aura Sphere. Pick him off from far,” Jay grinned, watching Ryan scowl.

“Hakamo-o, close the distance. Use Iron Head to charge in.”

The dragon’s head shimmered as he thundered forwards. Hakamo-o hit Lucario whilst he was charging his aura. The jackal resisted the Steel-type attack, but he was now left on critically low health. 

“Use Extreme Speed to get away, Lucario. Then, keep him at a distance with your Aura Sphere. If he tries to come close, dash somewhere else. You only need to land a few more hits.”

Attacking and dodging back, Lucario spin-kicked through the air, launching small balls of aura with the motion. They peppered Hakamo-o, reducing him to low health. Hakamo-o growled, using Bulk Up again to prepare to attack. 

_“This fight will not last much longer; we are both near defeat.”_

Ryan sighed. “Use Dragon Claw to block the incoming attacks, then use Drain Punch to finish him.”

“Drop back, Lucario. Use Extreme Speed to get behind him, then attack again with Meteor Mash.”

This was it, whoever landed their hit would win. Hakamo-o neutralised the incoming barrage with his claws and swung at Lucario. Knowing that the jackal would appear behind him, he spun and punched behind him, but Lucario was just out of range. Kicking the dragon once, Lucario followed it up with the finishing blow, a glistening punch. 

Hakamo-o fell to the floor whilst Lucario dropped onto his knees, both exhausted. 

“Nice win, Jay. We were close to beating you, but Extreme Speed is deadly. Lucario must have learned it since we last fought,” Ryan chuckled as the pair returned their Pokémon. They turned to Lucy, who had been watching intently with her Umbreon on her lap.

“Wow, that was a really good battle. You’re both great trainers. Watching you only made me realise that I need to spend more time battling,” she laughed. “Somehow, even a one on one like that, was super tense.”

Jay grinned. “We both enjoy the battlefield. Though I’m more competitive than he is. I probably spend way too much of my time practicing, but he’s a slightly better strategist. So I guess we’re pretty even.”

“Yep. It was a good game, and I’ll beat him next time. Now, who’s challenging Lucy?” Ryan asked with a smile. 

She chuckled. “Maybe we could do a double battle?”

“Sure. I’ll tag with Ryan,” said Jay, releasing his Noivern. 

“Right,” she nodded. She sent out Alolan Raichu and Braixen, as Ryan summoned his Scizor. 

~-----~-----~-----~-----~


End file.
